PROCEEDINGS FOR 189(i XCIX 



"Truth was, in fact, his idol. A want of it in others, or anything 

 mean or underhand, was the one fault for which he had no toleration. 

 This absolute worship of truth is apt to be termed imprudence ; would 

 that it prevailed more universally. For surely it is not from the impru- 

 dence of speaking the truth that the world has so long suffered, but from 

 the greater imprudence of concealing it. Must we still exclaim with 

 lago : 



' Take note, take note, O world ! 

 To be direct and honest is not safe.' 



Let us rather say with Pope : 



'An honest man's tlie noblest work of God.'" 



My conclusions may be briefly summarized thus : 



1. No ocean or hydrosphere in early or Lower Archaean ages; con- 



sequently no life. 



2. First evidence of oceanic or aqueous and eruptive volcanic action 



in Upper Archa?an or Huronian formations. . 



3. Stratiform structure is not in itself evidence of aqueous deposition. 



4. Original igneo-crystalline and non-aqueo-sedimentary character 



of all Lower Archaean rocks. 



5. Granite, like its congener, lava or trap, was formed at many geolo- 



gical periods by forces operating at limited depths within the 

 lithosphère, giving rise to gaseous and thermo-chemical solu- 

 tion, fusion and crystallization. 



6. Granite is rarely, if ever, intrusive, and never, unless of Archtean 



age, eruptive. 



7. Neither the formation of granite nor volcanic eruptions are the 



result of, or are influenced by, central heat. 



8. Land and water, or oceans and continents, have repeatedly 



changed places in the millions of years during which this tri- 

 une sphere has been developing itself; always in a progres- 

 sive, never in a retrogressive, manner, as is implied by the 

 recurrence to central heat, from which we started. 

 And, in conclusion, I may again quote Tennyson and say : 



" But in my spirit will I dwell, 

 And dream my dream, and hold it true 

 But though my lips will breath adieu, 

 I cannot think the thing farewell." 



